Grief and Hope
by EhMightAsWell
Summary: Everyone deals with grief in their own way. Some bury themselves in it, some try to move on and find something new, some ignore it, and others find strength where they can find it. (This is a story about raising Steven if ya couldn't figure that out. Enjoy!) Steven Universe belongs to Rebecca Sugar and the good folks over at Cartoon Network.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Greg and the the gems clustered around Rose in the makeshift maternity ward they had converted the cave into as they watched her form start to glow and crumble away. She smiles at each of them and gives a slight wave before she finally leans back in the bed and closes her eyes, her form crumbles away piece by piece as if it were comprised of dust until her physical form was no more. The group sits there in silence as tears stream down their faces. Their grief was interrupted by the cry of a young child bearing a pink gem half the size of his head that had been left in the place of the once mighty gem. Greg stares at his lap for a moment as he listens to the crying child before he finally gets up and walks to his son. The new father wipes the tears from his face and does his best to smile warmly at the young boy before he picks him up and wraps in a blanket, he then states calmly "Hey there, it's nice to meet ya Steven."

Garnet turns to face Greg and stares down at the child with her usual stoic demeanor. She slowly extends a hand towards the newborn only to find him wrap his small fingers around her hand. She lets out a weak chuckle and states "Hey there cutie pie." Amethyst walks over and inspects the young child but remains silent. Without saying a single word Pearl walks out of the room, Garnet purses her lips and releases Steven's hand before following after the pale gem leaving Amethyst and Greg alone with Steven.

* * *

The night went on and the pair remained in utter silence until Amethyst looks to Greg and mumbles "So man...How are ya holding up?" Greg glances over to her and laughs exclaiming "How do you think I'm holding up Amethyst. My kid was just born, and my wife just went up in a puff of smoke! As it stands the only reason I'm holding myself together is so that I can come up with a plan as to what I'm going to do next!" Startled by the sudden noise Steven starts crying. Greg jumps and exclaims "Oh! I'm sorry little guy, there's no need to cry. Please stop crying." He lifts Steven up and down before his eyes start to well up and he is forced to wipe the tears away, he had to stay strong for his kid, but this attempt fails and they flow freely down his face. "Come on now, please stop crying...Please."

Amethyst glances over to Greg and states "I'll take him off your hands for a sec G-man... Just... make yourself respectable." She watches Greg nod pitifully and he then hands Steven over to her. When he had first been born she hadn't known what to make of the little guy. She wanted to hate him! After all he had just taken Rose from them, but then she held him in her arms, she listened to him cry and no matter how much she wanted to, she just couldn't. 'You never wanted any of this huh little guy, you never wanted to be made. Rose was the one who made that choice.' She glares at Greg for a brief moment before the thought crosses her mind 'Because of him.' She pushes that train of thought off to the side for now, Steven needed them "Yo Greg, you good dude? This little guy is getting heavy."Greg nods and wipes the tears from his face.

By the time Greg had calmed down Steven had gotten comfortable in Amethyst's arms and it took a few minutes for him to return to a restful state of sleep, once they were sure that he was calm they carefully passed him off. He barely noticed being moved around as Amethyst returned Steven to his father. Greg tightens Steven's blanket and cradles him in his arms. Amethyst then sits down beside him and states "So Greg what do ya plan to do now?" Greg shrugs "Well Vidalia's offered to let us stay in her place, and if that doesn't work out...Well I don't really know what I'm gonna do. The van isn't really a good place to raise a kid." He runs his free hand through his hair and glances at Amethyst who just shrugs "Well man, I'm sure you'll figure somethin' out. In the mean time, I guess me and Garnet will try our best to give ya a hand when we can. The least we can do is keep Pearl off of your back." Greg chuckles and exclaims "Good luck with that! She was bad enough when Rose and I had been together for a few years!" Amethyst cackles in response "Dude you didn't have to live with her! Almost every day of that first year or two she'd whine about some little thing. She was nearly as unbearable as you and Rose."

Greg chuckles and yet the mood slowly takes on a far more somber turn. He glances over to Amethyst and mumbles "Look I'm really sorry about this. Pearl was right, me and Rose..." Amethyst interrupts him by holding up a hand. She glares angrily at him and states harshly "Dude. Don't even go down that route. What's done is done. Besides ya made Rose happy." She glances at Steven and to change the subject she asks, "How's the little guy doing anyway?" Greg glances down at the bundle he held in his arms "Oh he's fine, just snoozing like a champ." Amethyst nods and creeps in to get a look at the child as he slept. Amethyst then glances at Greg who seemed to be dozing off as well and states "Hey man, go get some sleep I'll keep an eye on things." Greg glances at the purple gem and whispers"But what if he gets hungry?" Amethyst winks at him and studies her fingernails as she states states nonchalantly "Look I'm the one gem who actually eats often. I might not have been reading those books you, Rose, and Pearl were always staring at, but I can read instructions on a box well enough, and I know my food. Besides you're a human, you guys need to sleep. I on the other hand might like it, but I don't need it." Greg nods and lies in the sand leaving Amethyst and Steven on the bed he had set up in the van. Amethyst proceeds to transform into a cat and wrap herself around the newborn to keep him warm.

* * *

Garnet calmly walks into the temple and allows her future vision to guide her to Pearl. All the while poisonous thoughts tore through her mind and threatened to tear the fusion apart. 'We knew this would happen. We showed it to her. We caused this.' She shakes her head and hardens herself, 'Such self pity will not change what had happened. The only course we have is to move forward. The oath that they had taken when they had sworn themselves to Rose so long ago still held true. They were the crystal gems, and they would protect this world. Even without her here.' With that she continues to delve deeper into the temple with the aim of consoling her last surviving friend who had fought at their leader's side during the war. The tunnel opened up into a vast cavern filled with pillars of water which rose to grand heights. In the center of the room was a single pillar which towered above the others and a figure could be seen sitting on the edge.

Pearl sat at the edge of her waterfall staring at the abyss before her. She had nothing. She was nothing. The one being who had granted her freedom all those years ago was gone. She was gone because she had been weak. She was gone because after everything they had fought for, after everything they had seen, no matter how many times she had told her that it wasn't true. "I'm just a Pearl." She closed her eyes and slowly but surely she started to slide over the side of the waterfall. Her gem would probably survive the fall of course, there was more than enough water below to cushion her fall, but in this instance that fact did not matter. Just as she started falling a hand grabbed her shoulder and tore her from the jaws of the abyss. Garnet looked at her friend and removed her glasses. The triclops wrapped her arms around Pearl and states calmly "No you're not... You're part of this family. You are a crystal gem."

Pearl sniffs and states "We aren't the crystal gems anymore. Not without her." She then returns the hug. Garnet glares at her and states authoritatively "Just because Rose is gone does not mean that her message does not stand Pearl, that does not mean that her legacy will be forgotten. It is still our duty to protect the earth from our mistakes. It is still our duty to protect the humans from..." Pearl steps away from Garnet and screams "The humans are the ones who did this, they tore us apart!" She summons her spear and prepares an energy blast. Yet Garnet simply stands there and makes the simple statement "No they aren't... What put us in this state is Rose's choice, and your refusal to accept it. She told you months ago that this was going to happen, but you did not want to believe it. You refused to prepare yourself and now you are letting yourself think that you are hurting far more than the rest of us." Her expression softens and she continues, "Pearl please believe me, these times will be trying, the monsters that our fallen comrades have become will not stop causing harm to this world, I have seen our old technology become active once again. Rose's child will also need our help as well. We need to stand together now more than ever. It's what Rose would have wanted." Pearl snarls and sends the blast hurtling towards Garnet exclaiming "What do you know!"

Garnet takes the blast to the chest and finds herself hurled off of the waterfall and slammed into one of the other pillars. She swims to the top and calmly jumps back to the central pillar "Pearl." She reaches out to her old friend with one of her hands. Pearl stiffens for a moment and turns away from Garnet, she then returns to her perch atop the pillar. Garnet covers her face with her glasses and sits down on the side opposite of Pearl. Pearl will calm down eventually, all they have to do is wait.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **Hey guys, it's been a while. Sorry about that, here's another chapter with more of our favorite angst filled Pearl!**

Greg awoke to the sound of a wailing child. He blinks and panics for a moment "Where's Steven? Did something happen?! What's going on?" Amethyst glances at Greg and returns to her human form before she states "Well Steven woke up, and he's hungry, or maybe he pooped himself, I can't say that I really know. Just...Get him to stop..." She covers her ears and winces in discomfort as the child continues his screaming fit. Greg fumbles around in the van until he finds a bottle of formula he had prepped a few hours ago. He then searches for the hot plate and plugs it in. Several moments pass and Steven continues to screech much to Amethyst's annoyance and she yells "Look dude, I get that this is your first time, but please hurry it up! If that kid screams any louder I think that he'll attract a gem monster!"

Greg grumbles as he finally has the bottle ready and he runs over to Steven. He picks him up and tries to get the child to drink from the bottle but Steven just wouldn't have any of it. Amethyst rolls her eyes and takes the bottle from Greg before she exclaims "You're doing it wrong! Ya just have to jam it in and..." Amethyst blinks as she finds that Steven had spit the contents of the bottle up onto her form "Gross dude..." Greg sighs and glares at Amethyst before he takes the bottle back and states "I'm the parent here... Let me do my job." Amethyst turns away from him angrily, but then tilts her head slightly to watch him from the corner of her eye.

Greg was careful to keep Steven's head supported as he shifted him up and down in his arms. He then brought the bottle to the boys mouth only to find Steven somewhat unwilling to go along with his attempt to feed him. Several minutes pass and Steven finally relents. The newborn closes his eyes and devours the entire bottle in only a few minutes. Only a few moments pass before he starts to cry. Amethyst turns as she hears Greg slap the young boys back "What are ya doing dude! I mean really, you don't hit a kid!" Greg blinks and states "I might have hit him a bit hard there, but Amethyst when babies feed they build up gas, you pat their back in order to help them release it." He proceeds to pat the newborn's back until Steven belches. Amethyst glances away from Greg and scratches at her head.

She then asks offhandedly once Steven was back to sleep "So Greg...Do you still have those child care books lying around anywhere?" Greg snickers at her and leans against the van before he states "Well... I do, but they're in the storage unit." Amethyst nods before she states "Think you can get them for me?" Greg blinks and states "I suppose..." He rubs the back of his head and glances over to the sun which was rising over the sea casting a beautiful mirror image of itself over the water. Greg glances at Amethyst and then to Steven before he thinks to himself 'I suppose everything's changed...' he blinks and returns his attention to Amethyst before he states "I'll hand em over the next time I see ya." The purple gem just nods at this before her eyes widen and she grins "Daw...Look at the little guy, he's just opened his eyes." Greg glances down at Steven who was gawking at Amethyst with an open mouth for a moment. As he see's Amethyst react to him he smiles back at her before he yawns and closes his eyes. Greg grins at Amethyst and then hugs Steven tightly to his chest. This was his kid, and nothing was going to happen to him under his watch.

* * *

For the next few weeks Pearl remained at the peak of her waterfall. At this particular moment she had her eyes shut. Garnet had refused to leave her room, and the pale gem was unwilling to give an inch and speak with her. Eventually she simply snaps and screams "Why don't you just go!" only to open her eyes and realize that she was alone...Again. She holds herself close, and tries to think back to her time with Rose, before Greg. When it had just been them fighting to for the world which they had been the protectors of for ages. But those memories were tainted, the only thing that happened when she thought back to them was that 'I could have saved her. I could have stopped this from happening. If I just weren't a Pearl." Her attention was grabbed by the sound of something falling, and she watches as one of her swords slips from its position within the waterfall, and falls into the abyss below. She tries to ignore it and return to her solitude, but she knew that it was out of place, and because of that knowledge she knew she had to go down and retrieve the artifact. She got up and hopped down onto one of the streams which lead deeper into the temple. Once she reaches the bottom of the stream she hops off, and searches for her sword within Amethyst's room. Due to the number of waterfalls which fed into the pools of Amethyst's chamber Pearl searches far and wide to no avail. Eventually Pearl grows tired of searching and yells out "Amethyst are you around?!"

She hears movement from beneath a nearby trash pile only for a small purple cat to pop out from beneath a pile of newspapers. The feline purrs and states "Yeah what do ya need P?" Pearl's eyes narrow at the gem and she asks "Have you been following me?" Amethyst morphs back into a humanoid form and shrugs before she states cheerfully "Yep... I heard ya come down, and I thought it'd be fun to surprise ya! But then ya asked for me, so I figured I'd just scrap that plan." Pearl nods and simply asks "Have you seen a sword fall down anywhere? I'm afraid a part of my collection fell down here, and I can't seem to find it." Amethyst smirks at her and states "No prob P! Just...Wait here while I go find it." Amethyst shifts into her owl form, and flies off into the distance. Pearl sighs and a few minutes pass without any sign of Amethyst returning. Pearl notices something at the foot of the stack of mattresses which Amethyst had made a habit of sleeping on, and since she had nothing better to do she decides to investigate. She glances down at what appeared to be a book, one with a hard back cover that had the words "Newborn Necessities" plastered upon the cover. Her hand trembled as she recognized the volume as she had been the one to purchase it alongside Rose and Greg several months ago.

She remembered that day well, when she had learned of Rose's harebrained scheme to have a child with Greg she had demanded that they go and learn more about the process beforehand. While she and Greg had purchased several books which detailed the process by which a human was born, along with the health risks involved for the child and mother. Rose had chosen to buy this particular book. According to her, "It would come in handy in the future." Pearl sniffs at the thought, 'Rose was so excited about this it must have been crushing when she discovered that it wasn't going to work out...' She carefully tucks the book under her elbow, though a single thought did cross her mind 'Where did Amethyst get this?'

Eventually Amethyst did return and she carried with her Pear's favorite saber. Pearl smiles at Amethyst and states "Thank you very much Amethyst." Amethyst glances at her and nods before she hands her the blade. She then places her hands behind her back and glances at the book Pearl held in her hands. Her brow furrows and she exclaims "Hey what are you doing with that!" Pearl blinks and asks "I could ask you the same question, where did you get Rose's book!?" Amethyst blushes and states awkwardly "Greg gave it to me, I've been reading it to try and learn how to properly take care of a kid so I can give him a hand with Steven." Pearl blinks as she was slightly confused "Steven, who is this Steven?" Then a memory comes back to her. 'Steven...That was what Rose wanted to name her child.' Pearl glances at Amethyst who folds her arms and states "You know, Rose and Greg's kid? It's been a few weeks since he was born, and Greg's been on his own. I just figured he could use a hand with him." Pearl steps away and drops the book into the mud which causes Amethyst to exclaim "Hey!" She runs over and scoops up the book before she carefully brushes the grime off of the cover. Not knowing what else to do Pearl simply states "Thank you for helping me with this Amethyst." Before she does an about face, and walks away. Amethyst looks at her and yells "Steven isn't bad Pearl. Go check him out when ya can. He's a pretty cool kid!" Pearl continues to rush out of the room and stops once she was out of sight. She places a hand against the wall of the cavern and breathes heavily for a moment. 'That thing had taken their leader's life, and Amethyst was treating it as if it deserved their attention...How...Why?' She stops as tears streamed down her cheeks and states sadly "They've already put her behind them." She then rushes back up into her room where she would remain for the next week.


End file.
